Hundreds gathered in downtown Silver Spring on Wednesday to show support for Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), a Kensington resident, in his mission to return a mistakenly deported Prince George’s County man from El Salvador.
“When we are faced with adversity, when one of us is taken or under attack, we come together, and that’s what Chris Van Hollen is showing us right now with his leadership, how we can come together and stand courageous, because we will get through these times being united,” Montgomery County Council President Kate Stewart (D-Dist. 4) told the crowd at Veterans Plaza before leading a rousing chant of “Bring him home.”
Van Hollen traveled to El Salvador on Wednesday in the hope of being able to visit and speak to his constituent, Kilmar Abrego Garcia of Beltsville, who was deported last month due to an administrative error by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Associated Press reported. Despite a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the United States must “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return, both President Donald Trump and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele have said they have no legal grounds to send Abrego Garcia back to the U.S.
Abrego Garcia, 29, is being held at Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT), a notorious maximum security gang prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador. The Trump administration alleges that Abrego Garcia has ties to the Mara Salvatrucha gang, commonly known as MS-13, a claim he and his attorneys have disputed.
Van Hollen told Salvadoran press on Wednesday afternoon that while he was able to meet with Salvadoran Vice President Félix Ulloa, he was not granted access to the CECOT prison and was not allowed to speak with Abrego Garcia.
“We have an unjust situation here,” Van Hollen told reporters following his meeting with Ulloa. “The Trump administration is lying about Abrego Garcia. The American courts have looked at the facts.”
Wednesday’s rally, hosted by the Maryland General Assembly’s Latino Caucus, included remarks from several county officials and legislators, as well as representatives from Prince George’s County.
“This is about what freedom looks like, what freedom should be and what America should be like,” said Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich (D). “We are not descending into the rat hole of fascism.”
Elrich pledged that no matter what is happening in the federal government, Montgomery County will remain true to its values.
“Montgomery County is not changing. We’re going to defend the people who live here. We’re going to make sure people are safe,” Elrich said. “We’ve got power over our dollars, our policy and what we do with our police and what we do with all the resources we have in this county. We stand with the immigrant community.”
According to the county’s public information office, the county’s policy is to “not to inquire about anyone’s immigration status, nor does the county conduct any immigration enforcement or investigations.”
However, county policy requires the police department and the county’s Department of Correction and Rehabilitation to cooperate with ICE officials in their work on immigration and customs violations and drug and human trafficking. The county’s arrest and detention information goes to the state and can be accessed by ICE.
Elrich has maintained since Trump’s election that the administration’s mass deportation orders are a “federal problem” and not something that county officials or police would be involved in. However, he has also continually pushed back on assertions that Montgomery County is a so-called “sanctuary county” for immigrants.
State Del. Ashanti Martinez (D-Dist. 22), who represents Prince George’s County and counts Abrego Garcia among his constituents, said he believes there is a “constitutional crisis” in the country.
“We have an occupant of the White House who refuses to do not just the right thing, the moral thing. We believe in due process in this country. We believe you are innocent until proven guilty,” Martinez said during Wednesday’s rally. “It’s personal for me, because [Abrego Garcia is] a Prince Georgian … we are dedicated to making sure that he is home safe with his wife and his children.”
Del. Lorig Charkoudian (D-Dist. 20), who represents Silver Spring, expressed similar concerns.
“[There are] people who are fleeing countries where people disappear, people who are fleeing countries where people are kidnapped by their government and sent to prisons never to be seen again, and we will not stand by as this government does that to our own,” she said.
Charkoudian said she is concerned that the deportation of Abrego Garcia mirrors a “pattern of fascism,” and that Americans must stand against it.
“[They are] starting with folks they think they can kidnap, until eventually no one has any rights anymore,” Charkoudian said.
Del. Gabriel Acevero (D-Dist. 39), who represents Germantown and Montgomery Village, echoed her statements and said there is “evidence of fascism.”
“What we’re seeing is ICE agents and this administration intentionally targeting not just immigrants, but those who exercise free speech in criticizing this government and the actions of foreign governments,” Acevero said. “Each and every one of us are here today because we understand that if they come for Kilmar in the morning, they will come for us at night. Liberation requires community.”
Stewart encouraged rally attendees to continue to show up to protests and to stand against actions by the Trump administration.
“When we look back on these times and our children and our grandchildren ask us, ‘Where were you?’ What will you be able to say?” Stewart said. “We were here.”
